Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 13:20:51 -0000
From: Ardveche <ardveche@hotmail.com>
Subject: New to this State (part 13)

HARD AT WORK
============

Phew!  Another long delay between chapters, but I had to stop to write
"Educating Alex", a one-part story in the College section, but now that
I've stopped that buzzing around my head: I'm back!  Refreshed and ready to
resume, and hopefully soon finish, New to this State.  I apologize to
everyone I have kept waiting for another chapter, what can I say?  Sorry.
So this is almost it, only one more chapter to go, I hope you like it.


DISCLAIMER
==========

This is a work of fiction; any resemblance to persons living or dead is
entirely coincidental.  The author asserts all legal and moral rights
(copyright (c) 2000 - ardveche@hotmail.com) to this work and you may not
copy it or transmit it in any way except in its entirety and with this
disclaimer. This story features descriptions of sex between consenting (all
over the legal age, at least in my jurisdiction they are) males:

- if such material is prohibited in your jurisdiction, please DO NOT READ ON,
- if you're under the legal age to read such material, please DO NOT READ ON,
- if you don't like, or are offended by such material, please DO NOT READ ON.

Now, if everyone who is still here is meant to be here, let's get on with
it.  All comments are welcome and gratefully received (email them to
ardveche@hotmail.com or look me up on MSN Messenger).


NEW TO THIS STATE
=================

Chapter 13 - Bad Luck

	We sat like that for some time enjoying one another's warmth and
the quiet companionable silence that descended.  A couple of boats passed
by, sailing the length of the lake, but that was the only thing to disturb
the serenity and beauty of the afternoon.  As the shadows began to
lengthen, Curtis stirred and removed his arm from round my shoulders.

	"So you want to talk?  Or should we just head back?"  He asked,
sliding his hands inside his coat and rubbing them up and down his ribcage
to warm them.

	"Not right now."  I replied after a moment's thought, I did want to
talk to him, to try to make him see sense, but I didn't want to bring down
the whole afternoon which had been so great for me.  "Let's go back."

"Okay."  We rose stiffly from the rock we were sitting on and struggled up
the steep bank, Curtis's car was just another dark blob amidst the shadows
by the time we got back to the campground.  He handed me the keys.

"You want me to drive?"

"Yeah.  I think that maybe I overdid it these last few days.  I feel kinda
stiff."

"Oh really?"  I joked.

"Just try not to kill us."  He said with a rueful shake of his head.  We
slid into the car, and the heater soon took the chill off the evening as we
wound our way down the dirt roads back to the highway.  It seemed hardly
anytime at all before we were back at Lois's place.  The journey back
always seems shorter somehow, am I the only one who's noticed this?  We
were late for dinner, but Lois and my mom had left plenty for us to eat in
the fridge and microwave instructions.  They were in the parlor engaged in
another epic game of Scrabble.  If I ever get that way, I want someone to
shoot me.  We passed the evening quietly in my room, just watching TV while
I read over the notes Kate had brought from school.  It was all pretty
straightforward and I figured I hadn't really missed all that much.

"I'm beat."  Curtis eventually said with a yawn.  "Gonna turn in.  After
last night's narrow escape, we'd better cool it for a while, huh?  And I
don't feel a hundred percent, anyway, so I wouldn't be much fun."

"Aw."  I pouted, but saw the wisdom of his words.

"Besides, tomorrow's a school day, Andrew!"  He grinned at me.  "So I'm
gonna go downstairs, 'kay?"

"Yeah.  I suppose so."  I sighed.

"Do I get a goodnight kiss?"

"Do you think you deserve one?"

"Always."  His answer was simple, and utterly impossible to dispute.  So I
leant towards him, and we kissed for a long time before he finally pulled
away and whispered a good night with a peck on the forehead.

"Night."  I replied, unhappy to be spending it alone.

"You're oversexed anyway."  He said as he turned to leave.

"Hardly!"  I called to his back, but he ignored me and I heard his
footsteps make their way downstairs, and then I was alone.  And I truly
felt alone.

The following morning, I was woken by the insistent clamor of my alarm
clock.  On school days, I purposely set it to a station I hate so I have to
get out of bed to turn it off.  It's worked so far, and I'm rarely late.  I
dressed with my usual care after my shower and made my way down to the
kitchen.  My mother had already left for work, but Lois was there bustling
to and for, tending her houseplants.

"Good morning!"  She chirped.

"Ha!"  I replied.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I guess."

"Didn't hear anything unusual?"  Her tone was arch.

"Such as?"

"Some sort of animal in the flowerbeds, perhaps?"  She smiled wickedly at
me.

"I don't know what you're talking about."  I protested, smiling back.

"Lucky for you, young man, that those bulbs were coming out soon anyway."

"Sorry, Lois."  I tried to look contrite and failed miserably.  "Is Curtis
up?"  A change of subject seemed to be very much in order.

"I haven't seen him.  Why don't you check?"

"No, I don't want to disturb him.  He wasn't feeling too good yesterday,
thinks he might have been overdoing it."

"Well, I don't like to say 'I told you so', so I'll let you imagine that I
did."

"I think I ought to get to school."

"Yes, your mother left this for you."  Lois handed me a sealed envelope.
"She said to hand it in at the administration office."

"Cool.  What'd she say?"

"That you missed a few classes for personal reasons."

"Okay.  Guess that saves going into too much detail, huh?"

"Yes.  Now go."

The walk to school was quiet, as I made my way through suburbia, more
confidently now than the last time I'd tried this on foot.  I arrived about
fifteen minutes early, which left me plenty of time to go to the office and
give my mom's letter to Agnes, then I headed up the hall to my locker to
stow some of my books until I needed them later.  It was there that David
and Tyler caught up with me.

"Hey, Drew!"  David called, trotting up to me.  Tyler followed at a more
leisurely pace; stopping to say a few words to some other guys first.
"Good weekend?"  He winked at me.

"None of your business, David."

"Hey."  Tyler joined us.  "How's dumbass?"

"Are you going to call him that every time?"  I asked, but I was not really
annoyed, as I knew that Tyler meant no harm by it.

"Probably."  Tyler grinned broadly, showing off his perfect teeth.  The cut
on his cheek seemed to be healing up nicely.

"Well, don't."  Was all the answer I could make.

"Sorry.  Didn't mean any offense, I was kidding."

"I know, and he wouldn't take any.  But too many people call him names for
his friends to be doing it too.  Don't you think?"

"I guess.  Sorry, Drew."  So, how about that?  Tyler Ellis just apologized
for something.  It was clear this was a pretty rare event from the look on
David's face.  He seemed slightly stunned.

"Forget about it.  What's your first class?"  Maybe I should go into
diplomacy, I seemed to be developing a real talent for steering awkward
conversations into safer territory.

"What's your first class?"  He stressed 'your', but it still took a moment
to realize what he was driving at.

"Math."  I answered having just checked my schedule minutes before.

"So what have I got?"

"Math."  I let him have the point as a way of showing I wasn't mad with
him.  We grinned at one another, and Tyler laughed.

"You two should take this little act on the stage."  David commented wryly,
and found himself suddenly in a headlock being instructed to apologize by
Tyler.  The bell rang, saving David from any further torment and we bid him
farewell as we headed to our first class, promising to meet up with him at
lunch.  The morning passed uneventfully, I moved from class to class and
managed to pay greater attention than I had on Thursday so I got all the
way to lunch without having a teacher yell at me.  So a pretty good day in
many ways.  I stopped in the hall again to deposit my books before meeting
the guys for lunch, and was just closing my locker when someone spoke to
me.

"Hey!  Fag."  I ignored the voice, pretending he wasn't talking to me,
though he obviously was.  "I said, hey, fag."  A hand grabbed my shoulder,
I spun round quickly, knocking his hand away.

"I heard you."  I didn't recognize the guy at all.  He was a lot bigger
than I was and a cold shiver ran up my spine, this was exactly what I had
sought to avoid at school.

"So why didn't you answer me, cocksucker?"  There was a superior smirk on
his face.  "Too busy thinking about your boyfriend?"  He was accompanied by
three other guys, and I knew that even if I could have taken him, which was
doubtful, I'd have had my ass kicked by his cronies.

"Fuck you."  It was the only thing I could think of to say.

"Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you?"  He pushed me hard by the shoulder so
I bounced off the lockers behind me.  There were several other people in
the hall, but everyone was acting like they couldn't see what was going on.

"I think maybe you would."  I replied evenly as I straightened my shirt,
aware that my big mouth was probably about to get me into a lot of trouble.
My heart was thumping.  The grin disappeared from my tormentor's face and
was replaced by a scowl almost instantly.

"You little creep."  He pushed me again.

"Hey!"  I turned my head to the left and saw Brian, the guy from the swim
team, approaching along the hall.  "What's going on?"  He demanded of the
bigger guy.  After my last encounter with Brian, where I had singularly
failed to impress him with my swimming, I could not have been more glad to
see him.

"Fuck off, Brian.  This is between me and the queer."  It occurred to me
that I had made no attempts to deny being gay to this big oaf.

"Leave him alone, Mike."

"This has nothing to do with you."  I squirmed against the wall where Mike
had me pinned by one shoulder still, trying to break his grip.

"It does now."

"Since when did you stick up for fags?"

"Drew's not a fag."  Brian answered, presumably thinking that he was coming
to my defense.  He took a step closer.

"Sure he is.  Saw him smooching with his boyfriend up at the lake
yesterday."  At the lake?  So Mike must have been on one of the boats that
went by, either that or he was sneaking about in the woods.  He must've
seen the expression on my face.  "Didn't think anyone could see you, huh?
Pair of homos, you and that weirdo Reid?"

"Is that true?"  Brian asked me, I made no response, glaring at Mike and
struggling.

"Let me go."  Brian's intervention, if not actually helping me directly, at
least seemed to be drawing more of a crowd, this seemed to discourage Mike
who presumably feared a teacher would soon arrive to see what the problem
was.

"I'll see you later."  Mike said letting go of me.  I straightened up
immediately, with overdue defiance, only to have him slam his palm against
my forehead, making my head clatter painfully and loudly off the locker
door.  He and his cronies stalked off with muttered curses and snarls in my
direction.

"Thanks."  I said to Brian as they left.

"Whatever."  He replied and walked away without another word.  Suddenly
lunch didn't seem like such a good idea, I knew Brian would go and join the
'jock-squad' as he did every day, and I would be far from welcome with the
group.  Bedsides which, I had a headache now and my stomach was so knotted
up that I had completely lost my appetite.  I had English Lit. after lunch,
so I sloped off to the library to kill the time and stay out of people's
way.  I felt thoroughly miserable, what had started out as a promising day
now looked like being the worst of my life.  Why did we have to have been
seen?  Why did people have to make such a big deal out of it anyway?
Surely the important thing was the love between two people, not what sex
they were?  I grabbed a book at random and moved to the middle of the room,
where I could be easily seen, and where any conversation would be
impossible.  I didn't want to talk to anyone and that seemed the best way
to avoid it.

When the bell rang, I made my way swiftly to my next class and headed
straight for a desk near the back of the room.  I quickly took off my
jacket and sat down, opening the book I had picked up in the library in the
hope of avoiding any awkward questioning from my classmates.  And from Kate
in particular.  I hoped the class would fill up quickly and that there
would be no possibility of her sitting beside me, but I knew it was futile.
People were sure to dawdle from lunch, but not Miss Vice-President - she
was right on time.  I realized, even as I was thinking this, that my
bitterness was being unfairly directed, but I couldn't stop myself.  I was
angry at the world, and I wanted to blame somebody for my predicament.

"There you are.  The guys missed you at lunch."  Kate deposited her
backpack on the desk beside mine.

"I was reading."  I answered without looking up.

"So I see.  Since when were you interested in..."  She paused, tilting her
head on one side to read the spine of the book I was clutching "... 'The
Coastal Ecology of the Pacific Northwest'?"

"It's for a project."  I replied.

"Sure.  So what really happened at lunch?"  She lowered her voice before
continuing.  "Are you pining for Curtis?"  She smiled broadly at me, but I
made no reply.  "What's up, you seemed fine this morning?"

"Miss Tomski!  This is an English class, not a caf‚."  The teacher's
stern tone, silenced Kate for the time being.  I continued staring at the
book I was holding, not making eye contact with her as she unpacked some
things and settled into her place.

"I'm not letting you off that easy, Drew.  I want to know what's bugging
you."  She said at last.

"Nothing."

"Sure, that's why you're the life and soul of this little party."

"Just drop it, okay?"

"No.  It is not 'okay'.  Something's up with you and I want to know what."
Kate hissed back at me.

"Nothing is up."

"What is wrong with you two?"  The librarian demanded.  "If you can't be
quiet I'll have to separate you.

"Sorry, Miss Carter."  She was silent for a few more minutes and feigned
interest in her own assignments, all the while sneaking glances at me which
I studiously avoided.  I was in turmoil, what had Mike meant by 'I'll see
you later', what did he have in mind?  How was I going to be able to
continue at this place now that I had been seen kissing Curtis in public?
How many people would he tell, how many would stop talking to me or, worse,
start bullying me once they knew?  What was I going to do?

"You're not getting out of here without giving me an answer, mister."  Kate
kicked me under the table to get my attention.

"Right, that's it.  Miss Tomski, move to another desk, please.  Down here
at the front, where I can see you.  Whatever you and Mr. Quinn have to
discuss can wait until after school, I'm sure."  This earned a chorus of
laughter from the rest of the class as the teacher closed her book with a
snap and glared at the two of us over her glasses.  Reluctantly, Kate got
to her feet and moved to an empty table a few over.  "I'm surprised at you,
Kate."  Well, at least I was to be spared any more questions as I plunged
back into my well of self pity and my pretense of reading up on coastal
ecology.  The class went on.

When the bell rang, I was already halfway out of my seat, and I bolted
along the hall, desperate to put some distance between myself and Kate.  I
had already decided that I was through for the day and that I was going to
take off.  I scurried along the hall, my knuckles white from clutching my
backpack, and my head down, eyes firmly on the floor.  Suddenly, there was
someone standing in my path, and showing no signs of getting out of the
way.  I panicked, afraid that this was the 'later' Mike had been talking
about.  Stopping abruptly, I looked up to see David standing there with an
amused look on his face.

"You were in a hurry, buddy.  And you're going the wrong way too."  He
stated, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Yeah."  I muttered.

"So what's up?  Brian told us Mike was hassling you."

"Nothing's up."  The lie was so obvious I winced.  "I'm fine."

"Sure, that's why you skipped lunch."

"We're going to be late."  I thought a change of topic was the safest
course.  Our chemistry teacher's irascibility was well known and much
commented on - in fact, it had been David who warned me about it in the
first place.

"I guess, let's go."  So much for sneaking out unnoticed.  Now not only was
I being compelled to go to chemistry, there was no hope of giving David the
slip before the end of school.  "But you're gonna tell me what's going on
afterward, okay?"

"Whatever."

"Good.  C'mon."  He threw an arm round my shoulders, which I quickly
shrugged off.  It was bad enough that Mike and his gang were giving me a
hard time without me getting David tied up in it all as well.  I started
walking.  "What?  What'd I do?"  David demanded of my retreating back.  I
made no response, and our arrival at Dr. Bates room cut off any chance he
had of renewing his questioning of me.  I never thought I'd be happy to see
that lab coat - but I was this time round.  I brooded on my problems
throughout chemistry class, this was exactly what I tried to avoid at
Conroy's with Aaron, thankfully this time Dr. Bates seemed not to notice
that I wasn't paying attention.  I was acutely conscious of the empty seat
next to me, and wondered what Curtis was doing right at that moment.  I
missed him, and wished that I could talk to him, I guess I was really
starting to think of him as a lifeline in some way.  Sure, talking to David
might well help, but he wouldn't make me feel as safe and needed as I knew
Curtis could.

"Class is over."  I was brought back from my reverie.  "You can go home
now."  David was standing beside me with a grin on his face.

"Huh?"  I was still miles away.

"What's got into you today?  You've been really weird."

"I know.  Sorry."

"Hey, don't apologize to me."  He shrugged, for all his earlier pushiness,
David was a good guy and was prepared to wait until I was ready to talk.
"Let's go grab Ellis, yeah?"

"Sure."  The thought of seeing Tyler again was a pleasant one, but it was
colored by the prospect that Brian would be there.  Oh well, had to face
everyone eventually I guess.  The guys had been so supportive when the they
found out about me and Curtis, I could only hope that continued now that
Mike and his moron friends knew about it too.  We walked along the hall
together, not talking about anything, me lost in thought, him giving me
time to think.

"Hey, Vincent!  Vincent!"  David ignored Mike, he and his buddies were
lurking by the doors as we walked outside - I guess there was a certain
inevitability to that.  "Better watch out, fag boy might try to jump you!"
This got a chorus of laughter from his cronies.

"Mike, why don't you go home and fuck your sister some more, let off
steam."  David answered calmly and kept walking.

"You little bastard!  I'll kick your faggot loving ass!"  Mike pushed
himself away from the wall and took a few steps towards us.  David spun on
the spot, dropping his backpack and taking up a ready stance, his eyes
flicking from Mike to each of his buddies in turn.

"Come on then."  He asked.

"Don't be dumb, Vincent.  This doesn't concern you."  Mike looked a little
hesitant now that David had squared up to him, this was not what he'd
expected.

"He's right, this is my fight, David."  I said quietly to my friend.

"And you're my friend, that makes it mine too."  He replied without even
turning to look at me.

"Why don't you just walk away, Vincent?"  Mike took another step towards us
and the others all adjusted their postures, ready for a fight.

"Why don't you make me, tough guy?"

"What does he do?  Suck your cock?"  Mike sneered at us.  "Guess he won't
be doing that with a broken jaw, huh?  No wonder you're defending him,
looks like he'd give pretty good head."  The cronies all laughed again.  I
was still standing, mind not really functioning, as my friend got ready to
take on five guys in my defense.  I could hardly believe what was
happening, we were outnumbered and outclassed, we were going to get the
shit kicked out of us, absolutely no question.

"David, let's just go, okay?"

"Yeah, David, just go.  Go home and fuck your boyfriend there."  Mike
mimicked my words, making his voice higher pitched and reedy.

"Mike, you're a real asshole, you know that?"  David's voice had lost all
its equanimity now, and he seemed really pissed.  Suddenly things started
to happen, Mike lurched forward and swung at David who dodged to one side,
I reacted immediately throwing myself towards Mike and swinging wildly.  I
got in one good punch before I was grabbed by one of his cronies and yanked
backwards while another drove his fist into my gut knocking all the wind
out of me.  Pain blossomed throughout my body and I gasped for air as I
dangled limply in the guy's grip.  I was hit again, this time in the face
and things went black for a moment as I reeled and collapsed to the ground.
I was aware of people running towards the fray and of voices yelling
something, then a foot caught me viciously in the ribs and I curled into a
fetal position.  There was more shouting, sounds of scuffling then of
running feet and then silence.  I was rolled onto my back and a familiar
voice was asking if I was okay.

"Drew?  Drew?  Are you okay?"  There was a strong cool hand on my forehead
and I slowly opened my eyes to look up at Curtis who was kneeling beside
me.

"Curtis?"

"Yeah.  You okay?"

"I'm okay.  Help me up."  I struggled to my feet with his assistance and
wiped my sleeve across my face, there was a little blood from my lip and
everything ached but I seemed to be all right other than that.  "What are
you doing here?"

"I came to meet you after school."  He replied.  I became aware of other
people gathered round, David, Tyler, Dan (from the 'jock-squad') and Kate.

"What happened?"  They quickly filled me in on what I missed.  Tyler and
Dan had spotted Curtis waiting for me by his car as they left the school
and had gone over to talk to him while they waited for David and me, and
they had been joined by Kate who was worried about me.  Then David and I
had come out and had our heated exchange with Mike, which Tyler had been
sort of expecting having been told about my earlier confrontation by Brian.
When the first punch was thrown, Curtis had immediately run over to help,
heedless of his own injuries and he had been followed by Tyler.  Between
them, with me out for the count, they probably would have been roundly
beaten, but Dan had joined the fray to help Tyler out, and Mike and his
buddies scattered.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I need a Coke."  David announced
grinning broadly and then wincing at the pain from his face.  He'd taken a
few hits from Mike, but had fared a lot better than I had, but then I had
borne the real brunt of the attack, being their principal target.

"Me too."  Tyler agreed.  "Lets head down to the mall, huh?"  I glanced
over at Curtis to see what he was thinking.

"Yeah, c'mon you guys, we don't bite!"  Dan said clapping Curtis on the
shoulder and grinning at both of us.  So the six of us piled into Tyler and
Curtis's cars (Kate coming with me and Curtis to make sure we didn't just
head off on our own!) and drove down to the mall where we enjoyed a coke
together and rehashed the fight we'd just been involved in, trading insults
of one another's fighting style.  Curtis was visibly ill at ease in the
little group, and I squeezed his hand under the table more than once to try
to reassure him.  He always responded by smiling weakly at me and making a
renewed effort to join in the conversation.  It was clear he was making an
effort for me, and I was deeply touched by it.  I was almost as touched
that the others were making such a show of accepting him into their little
group, but whatever happened he was never going to be comfortable with this
sort of thing, he was just too quiet and private a person for it to work.
We wandered back out into the open air, and I thanked everyone profusely
for coming to the aid of David and me.

"No problem, buddy."  Tyler answered first.  "I've been waiting for a
chance to kick Mike's ass, too bad he got a few punches in before I arrived
though."

"Yeah, he'll think twice before starting that again."  Dan laughed.

"I could've taken him."  David pulled himself up to his full height and
assumed a scowling expression which earned him only laughter from the rest
of us.

"Sure you could, hero."  Curtis, to my deep astonishment, answered giving
David a little push and a smile.

"I could take you anytime, Reid!"  David replied.

"Really?"  If anyone else caught the look on Curtis's face as he said that
they gave no indication of it, but David's jaw dropped and I had to laugh.
It was so good to see my boyfriend opening up to my new friends as he had
to me that I almost didn't mind the bruises I had earned along the way.
The only problem now was explaining it all to my mother.


TO BE CONTINUED...
==================